


Gifted

by SinisterMind



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Bullying, Drug Use, Healing, M/M, Mind Reading, gifted, invisible, powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-07-12 09:49:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7097563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SinisterMind/pseuds/SinisterMind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>the outcast is invisible</p><p>the druggie sees the future</p><p>the popular jock can read minds</p><p>the victim can heal</p><p>but whatever, really</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> woo i just rewatched all the xmen movies so im like !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael walked around the care home silently. 

 

No one noticed him but that’s okay because he preferred to be invisible. 

 

He was so quiet and such an outcast that no one at his home or at school noticed him. 

 

But he liked it.

 

Sometimes teachers flat out ignored him.

 

Sometimes he’d put his hand up in class and he’d be the only one and they’d ignore him like he wasn’t even there. 

 

Students wouldn’t ever talk to him.

 

Regardless if they saw him or not, he’s an outcast so no one pays attention to him. 

 

Maybe that’s the reason he’s like this. 

 

He felt so invisible that he became invisible.

 

~ ~ ~ 

 

Luke does drugs, a lot of them.

 

Mainly he sticks to marijuana because it’s the easiest to get his hands on but he’s done cocaine and even heroine a few times in the past. 

 

The past is something he doesn’t dwell in too often.

 

He prefers to look ahead. 

 

Because when he’s high he’s convinced he’s some kind of genius, a psychic.

 

And when he tells someone they laugh and he laughs along because everything is fucking hilarious when you’re high. 

 

But the stuff he sees seem so real.

 

He can’t tell what’s a hallucination and what’s real life when he’s high.

 

And sometimes the stuff he sees comes true.

 

Too bad he can only see the future when he’s high.

 

~ ~ ~ 

 

Ashton is a popular guy.

 

He’s friends with just about everyone in his year level but he had connections.

 

People wanted those connections but he never gave them out to people except his friends.

 

He didn’t have any friends.

 

He had fake friends and he knew they weren’t his friends because he can hear them talk about him behind his back.

 

They didn’t voice their small hatred to anyone though.

 

They kept them to themselves.

 

But that’s okay because Ashton can hear them. 

 

Ashton can hear everyone’s thoughts. 

 

~ ~ ~ 

 

Calum watched from his spot next to the stairs to make sure the coast was clear.

 

Some of the other students and pushed him down half a flight of stairs and then ran away once he didn’t move.

 

It’s fine though. 

 

Once he saw that the coast was clear he quickly grabbed his belongings that had scattered after the impact.

 

His wrist was bent at an odd angle but it didn’t hurt.

 

Besides it was going back into position by itself.

 

Kinda cliché isn’t it?

 

That the boy who is bullied relentlessly can do this.

 

Not many people have the power to heal anymore.


	2. One: Ashton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of an intro but how Ashton got his gift and shit

Ashton’s ability to read minds was a somewhat recent thing that had happened over the course of 3 months. 

 

It started out as a headache. A headache that would go on for long periods of time and leave him feeling dizzy and disoriented. They were pretty frequent especially if he was concentrating on something. 

 

The headaches were still present when he would look at someone and he could hear them talking and something the talking they were speaking didn’t match up with the talking in their head and he was so confused. 

 

He didn’t have anyone to tell because they would think he’s crazy.

 

Fuck maybe he was crazy. 

 

Schizophrenia is a thing and what if he has it? He can hear things that no one else hears. 

 

And then he figured it out. 

 

His first suspicion that he could read minds was when he had to pick a number between 1 and 1000 at a soccer game to pick which side to start on. No one has ever guessed the exact number but he heard the number from the referee so he repeated what he heard. The referee and the opposition were a little awed.

 

His second suspicion happened the following week and his teacher said something about a maths test happening in a few days and he immediately called out why they were having a maths test when they hadn’t gone through all the material. Needless to say the class was in shock before simultaneously talking and firing questions at the teacher and Ashton’s outburst was forgotten. 

 

He did research, looking at website after website and article after article and even checked books out of the library. He found articles about these people – though they weren’t considered that – who had these powers, or gifts as this so called Madam Levi described in her article. People that had the power to go through walls, turn invisible, control the weather and even read minds. 

 

Reading minds or ‘telepathy’ was always a thought that lingered in the back of his minds for as long as this has been happening. He thought it was insane to think that he could read minds. No one would believe him, they’d send him to the fucking mental asylum a few towns over. 

 

The idea of being telepathic was an interesting concept, he had heard about telepathy through fiction and movies. Each case was different, some people didn’t know how to control it, they could hear every persons thought in the room all at the same time which causes serious damage to the brain and ends up with people who possess this ‘gift’ to collapse, end up in a coma or even die because of the brain was working too hard to control other people’s thoughts. 

 

Some people could only read minds of those who they concentrated on which was easy on the brain and didn’t cause any damage. 

 

Some people can only be telepathic through dreams. Can communicate with an individual to convey a message through their dreams. 

 

Some people can’t read thoughts at all and can only speak through minds. 

 

A month after he discovered that he could read minds, he was pulling textbooks out of his locker to take home for the night when a sealed envelope fell to the floor. He glanced around at the crowded hallway before picking it up and examining the surface. It simply read his name and had a classy embellishment to keep the flap down. 

 

He bit his lip cautiously as he opened it and was confused to find one sentence on the white paper. 

 

'Meet me in room B24 at 3:40pm'

 

It was signed Madam Levi and why did that name sound so familiar to Ashton. The hallway was emptying and he pulled his phone out of his pocket to see that it was 3:35, he had nothing to lose by going to this meeting with this Madam Levi woman. 

 

The corridor emptied as he walked towards the classroom and he was surprised to find Luke Hemmings leaning against the door staring into space.   
“I’ve been expecting you” Luke nodded in his general direction with a blank expression on his face. Ashton was unsure if he was currently high, coming down from a high or about to go on a high. 

 

“What are you doing here, Hemmings” Ashton crossed his somewhat muscular arms over his chest. 

 

“Got this note” Luke dug around in his hoodie pocket which was against uniform policy and held up an identical note to Ashton’s. “With this fancy ass thing on it and told me to go here and I was like sweet so here I am” 

 

“What did you mean by you were expecting me here?” Ashton asked narrowing his eyes at the druggie in front of him. 

 

“Dunno” Luke shrugged “Had a vision. Or a hallucination. Maybe both” He laughed before tapping the side of his temple with his pointer finger and leaning closer to Ashton “I’m kinda psychic” 

 

“Great, are your boobs gonna tell me when it’s raining?” Ashton replied sarcastically which made the blonde laugh. 

 

“Good one” 

 

The door opens and a dark skinned woman with unruly dark curly hair motioned them in. Luke walked straight in, probably thinking that his beautiful woman was part of his hallucination whereas Ashton was more cautious. He looked at the woman as a way to try and read her thoughts about who she was but he couldn’t. Like something was blocking the connection. 

 

“I’m not late am I?” said a voice urgently from the doorway. The boy’s backpack was half unzipped and had papers spilling out the top, his uniform was neat and he even had his shirt tucked in like it says in the uniform regulations. No one followed that rule, well except for this kid apparently. 

 

“Dude” Luke looked over “Your finger is like broken. Shit’s fucked up”

 

“Fuck” Ashton heard the boy mumble. He recognised the boy as Calum Hood, he’s in a few of his classes and the guy is insanely smart and insanely clumsy. Ashton watched as he turned around slightly and when he turned back, his finger was in the correct position. 

 

“Now that all four of you are here” the woman began but Ashton interrupted 

 

“3” Ashton corrected. The lady shook her head. 

 

“4” she nodded. She seemed so sure of herself that Ashton had to look around and count just to make sure he was right. He definitely saw only 3 people. “My name is Madam Levi and I will be your mentor”

 

“Mentor” Calum repeated with a raised eyebrow 

 

“Yes, mentor” she replied “I’m going to teach you how to control your gifts”

 

“I don’t have no gift” Luke scoffed. Madam Levi eyed the drugged boy carefully and pursed her lips. 

 

“You have the ability to see the future, Mr Hemmings” She told him and Luke’s eyes widened. 

 

“Fucking trippy” he breathed out “I’m gonna see what hot guy I get to fuck”

 

“You’re gay?” Ashton found himself asking finding it quite out of the blue. 

 

“Yeah man” Luke replied grinning wildly and doing a wanking impersonation “All about that cock” 

 

“Enough with the vulgar language” Madam says briskly “As I was saying, Luke you indeed have a gift but you seem to confuse them with your hallucinations when you take drugs. Ashton here can read minds”

 

“How come I can’t read yours?” he asked “I tried to when we walked in”

 

“I know” she nodded “I blocked you before you could. You will not read my mind without my permission, understood?”

 

Ashton nodded. 

 

“Calum has the ability to heal which is a unique power as it’s rare and hasn’t been a reported case for decades”

 

“What about the 4th person” Calum asked “Who are they?”

 

“The fourth person of our class is Michael Clifford” she answered.

 

Michael Clifford, the outcast. No one really bothered to talk to him because he looks like he’d kill a person if they did so. 

 

“What does he have?” Ashton asked

 

“You haven’t figured it out?” Madam asks surprised. Ashton’s shakes his head. “Michael is invisible”


	3. Two: Luke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke's story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: heavy drug use

Luke has grown up with drugs. 

 

His parents were – are – druggies. 

 

His parents were young, very young, and too young to be having a child. They were only 15 when Luke was born. 

 

He was born addicted to heroin as his mother would take it whilst pregnant with him so much like his mother, Luke was dependent on the drug the moment he was born. 

 

So when he was born, he and his mother were both going through withdrawal symptoms, Luke’s more serious than his mother. 

 

He was born with blotchy skin and was seen crying more often than not. He would get fevers regularly and have hyperactive reflexes. Because of this, Luke was a small baby as he couldn’t get the nutrients his mother would be giving to him. Luke was prone to seizures the first few weeks of his life and was kept in the hospital until the withdrawal was to pass. 

 

It wasn’t easy even as a toddler. His parents were addicted to ice, heroin, acid, cocaine, marijuana, any drug that should not be in a household with a toddler who would stick small objects into their mouth. 

 

Luke knew that his parents loved him but they couldn’t show it because they were so dependent on drugs. They tried to spend time with their son but they couldn’t. 

 

When Luke turned 12 that was when he first started smoking marijuana. His parents had bags of the stuff and would often host small gatherings with friends where they would bake the weed into brownies and other treats. Luke had unknowingly taken a pot brownie and that’s where it all started. 

 

His parents were still addicted to drugs and it had completely ruined their lives. They couldn’t even remember they had a child majority of the time and Luke had found himself eating dinner with his neighbour a few times a week. 

 

When Luke turned 15, he started having vivid hallucinations of earthquakes in Asia or someone in his town getting hit by a car. But they were hallucinations so he didn’t think much of them and continued with his life. 

 

Precognition is what Luke has despite not being able to tell if something is a glimpse of the future or his mind playing tricks on him. He figured something was up when he saw the shop around the corner being robbed and then it actually happened a week later. 

 

Having a psychic ability was strange because he vaguely knew something was going to happen but only for specific events. He saw himself waiting for a door to open and he saw that popular guy, Ashton, speak to him outside the door. 

 

Fast forward to the present and that is exactly what happened, word for word except for a few minor details such as he was wearing a different wristband. 

 

Luke sat in a chair in the small classroom and watched the other three – four including Michael but Luke couldn’t actually see the boy – stare at one another. He wondered if Michael was staring at them, if he was even in the room anymore because Calum had left it open but Madame Levi had closed it a few minutes ago. 

 

“How do we know Michael is still in the room” Luke spoke up, head leaning against his shoulder “He could’ve left when the door was open”

 

“He’s still here” Madame responds 

 

“How do you know?” Calum asked quirking an eyebrow

 

“His energy is present” 

 

“I don’t mean to be rude” Ashton leant forward in his chair and stared at the dark skinned woman almost challengingly. “But why the fuck are we here? I could be at home right now but I’m stuck here”

 

“I don’t mean to be rude” Luke mimicked Ashton’s words and movement “But why the fuck are we here? I could be hanging out with Mary Jane right now but I’m stuck here”

 

“Your energy brought me here” Madame Levi says after a few moments of silence “You 4 have some of the strongest energy I’ve ever felt but you don’t know how to use your gifts. I spoke to the principle of this school and he agreed that instead of you having a free period, you’ll spend it here, with me where we learn all about your abilities and how to use them” 

 

“What’s your ‘gift’ then?” Luke snorted crossing his arms over his chest “You talk a big picture but we don’t even know who the fuck you are”

 

“That’s a story for another lesson” She hesitated before speaking up again “I’ll see you in third period tomorrow, be ready to share your gift and Michael please make sure we can see you”

 

Luke was the first one out the door and as soon as he was off school grounds he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He cuffed his hand around the end so the wind wouldn’t blow out the flame and inhaled sharply before exhaling. 

 

He was in no rush to get home. He knew his parents wouldn’t recognise him or even notice him at the very least. It’s gotten to the point where he’s accepted that they’re on the brink of death. His father having paranoia almost 24/7 and his mother having severe mood swings. Both his parents were extremely malnourished and skinny wasn’t even a word to describe them anymore. 

 

He used to care about his parents, and to an extent he still does but having lived like this all his life, having parents addicted to so many drugs and he himself being on the course for a full addiction to a few drugs was hard. 

 

But all he can do is sit, get high and see what will happen.


	4. Three: Calum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> About Calum and stuff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave some feedback because I love reading the comments you lovely souls leave and it motivates me to write

Having the ability to heal wasn’t all that it cranked up to be in Calum’s opinion. 

 

He can heal wounds like cuts, bruises and minor burns and small broken bones such as the wrist and fingers. 

 

He can recover from blood loss to a certain extent because after all, he is human, kind of and yeah he can die but he hasn’t figured out how too yet. 

 

He’s tried healing himself after a bad burn but all it did was speed up the scarring process. 

 

It comes in handy because unfortunately he’s a victim of physical bullying at school. Having being pushed down flights of stairs and having many broken fingers from having his fingers jammed in his locker is all common to Calum and it really fucking hurts. 

 

Hey, just because he can heal doesn’t mean he can’t feel pain. 

 

Because he does. 

 

And it hurts like a bitch.

 

Calum’s mother had the healing power herself, it’s one of the only inherited abilities you can get. Healing the teleportation are the only powers that are genetic, all others are up to chance. 

 

Or you can be exposed to radiation or get bitten by a spider but this is the real world, not some fantasy, superhero comic book. 

 

Calum loved comic books and he felt a deep connection to both Wolverine and Deadpool as both had the power to heal and all though he wasn’t sure if he could chop his hand off and wait for it to grow back like it would for Deadpool, he can sure as hell be like Wolverine. 

 

And now he’s in this class with other so called gifted people. 

 

He knew Ashton could read minds and is probably reading his right now judging from the way his eyes keep shifting over to Calum so he quickly thought of a little insult directed to Ashton. 

 

It must have worked because sure enough, Ashton had narrowed his eyes at him and growled under his breath.

 

“Oi” Luke spoke up “Why you growling at Wolverine over there? You a mutt or somethin’”

“Oh go smoke a joint” Ashton shot back directing his attention to the tall blonde. “I know you want to”

“When do I not want to smoke some Broccoli?” Luke snorted crossing his arms “I’m always in the mood for my favourite vegetable”

 

Calum watched as the two bickered and spoke loud insults to one another and wondered when the teacher – or mentor – was going to return from meeting with the principle.   
This was only their third lesson and he hasn’t seen Michael appear once. Was he even here?

 

“Hey, Ashton?” Calum asked attentively 

“What?” Ashton replied still salty about Calum’s mental insult

“Is Michael in the room?” 

Ashton paused and glanced over at the empty seat where Michael was supposedly sitting.

 

“I think so” Ashton spoke slowly “I can hear something like static but no like clear thoughts”

 

 

Calum walked home after school that day to the home he and his older sister lived in together. His mother had died the previous year and his dad wasn’t around anymore so it was just the two of them. But it’s okay, Calum and his sister have a close bond so they can cope. 

 

His mother was a lovely woman who had one of the biggest hearts Calum had ever seen which is why she isn’t with them today. The previous year she and Mali-Koa had gotten in a terrible car accident and Mali-Koa had the biggest impact from the crash so his mum had used all her energy to save her, evidently not giving her own body enough power to heal from the crash. 

 

Mali herself didn’t possess a power but Calum was always suspicious of that because she always caught Calum sneaking around the kitchen to get biscuits or lollies before dinner.   
He feels the phrase ‘having eyes on the back of her head’ was more than just a saying in Mali’s words. 

 

She has the power to turn around at the worst times, Calum thinks. 

 

Calum and Mali sat at the kitchen table across from one another, no words were exchanged between the two siblings as the two ate their dinner until Mali cleared her throat.

 

“So, I hear you have a new class at school?”

“How’d you find out?” Calum questioned not having mentioned it to his older sister because he was unsure if the class was an ongoing thing or just a weird dream. 

“Teacher called” Mali ate a piece of her chicken “Sounds like a lovely woman over the phone, Madame Levi is it?”

“Yeah, that’s her”

“So, what happens in these classes?” Mali asked “She said something about controlling your gifts? Is that what she calls your healing power?”

“Um, yeah, so there’s like four of us in the class and we all have different powers but apparently Madame Levi thinks we can amount to so much more with them and haven’t seen our true abilities” Calum sat up straighter in his seat “I think she’s full of bullshit” 

“What do you mean?” Mali frowns not bothering to scold her brother on his language. He’s nearly an adult anyway. 

“So this one guy, Michael right, he’s invisible but like he’s never been visible in class but we’ve all seen him before a few times because he’s kinda a loner and anyway it’s so stupid because what the fuck else is he meant to do?” Calum scoffed “His power is useless”

“What about the other two?”

“Luke’s a druggie, Mali, he’s like always high or has drugs on him and I swear he does more than marijuana or whatever nickname he calls it because it’s a different one every time, anyway he can see the future but he can only do it when he’s high and he can’t even tell if it’s a hallucination or an actual prediction” Calum rambled absentmindedly mashing his peas with his fork. 

“And Ashton is such a jerk, his friends are the ones that bully me and he can read minds!” Calum paused “Actually that’s a pretty good power but still he’s a jerk so he doesn’t deserve a cool power”

“You should be nice to them, Cal, they’re like you and if they’re here, then there’s other people like you out there and you’re not alone” Mali says softly 

 

“I wasn’t alone before” Calum whispered “I had mum”


End file.
